Elastic strip attachment for sewing machines



July 28, 1931. A. H. WEIS ELASTIC STRIP ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Jan. 4, 1927 2 She ets-Sheet 1 July 28, 1931. A. H. was; 1,816,627

ELASTIC STRIP ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed J an. 4, 1927 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 28, 1931 UNITED STATES ALBERT H. WEIS, OF NYA CK, NEW YORK ELASTIC STRIP ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING- MACHINES Application filed January 4, 1927. Serial No. 158,859.

This invention relates to sewing machines, more particularly to an, elastic strip attachment therefor, the object of the invention being to provide an improved attachment adapted to form a pocket from the material of the garment and, simultaneously with the stitching of the pocket, to insert an elastic strip therein.

The invention is particularly useful for in- 1 serting a continuous elastic band between the folds of garments, one'after another in a continuous fashion without the use of a covering strip, the pocket of the elastic being made by folding the goods of the garment to enclose the elastic strip thus concealing it from view.

' In the hemming of knickerbocker bloomers and similar articles, the garment will be folded in a pleat to form a pocket for an elastic strip. In one form of the invention shown herein, such elastic strip may be readily tacked at the start and finish, being entirely free within the pocket between such tacked portions.

In the present improvement at very simple change in construction may be made for inserting endless loops of elastic whereby exact sizes may be maintained.

One of the advantages of the present improvement is that the goods may be quickly placed in stitching position, flat and free of fold, and by a simple shift of knee or foot treadle the attachment will automatically fold the goods to form a pocket, thereby avoiding the necessity of inserting the goods into a hem or some'particular form of folder. In the present instance the goods are projected into an open guide in overlapping re lation, so that three folds of goods are formed, one layer being above another so that the elastic strip may be inserted into either the top or bottom fold as may be desired. It is preferred, however, when operating with a continuous elastic, to insert it with an endless loop of elastic it is preferred to insert it into the bottom fold.

In the hemming of knickerbocker bloomers and the like, manufacturers experience some difliculty in obtaining suitable covering strips into the top fold, Whereas when operating to match the large variety of colors andtextures of fabric. Therefore to hem or form a pocket from goods of the garment itself ofl'ers considerable advantage, although on the cheaper grades of fabric which are manufactured in much larger quantity, the use of a covering strip has become very popular. 7

The present invention is an improvement in part upon that shown and described in Letters Patent No. 1,277,004 andNo. 1,277,- Q05, dated August 27, 1918, of John P. Weis, 1n which a two-needle machine of the wellknown Metropolitan type is used and in which the elastic strip, after it comes from below the Work plate of the sewing machine, is glven a right angle turn and passed along a guide to be presented-to the needles.

In the drawings accompanying and f0rming a part of this specification,"Fig. 1 is a perspective view of so much of a sewing machine as is necessary to illustrate the present improvement applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the work plate and shifting mechanism for operating this improvement; 5 Fig. 3 is a front view of Fig. 1;'Fig. 4 is a perspective detail View of the elastic strip tension means; Fig. 5 is a perspective view ofthe parts for forming the fold in the goods; Fig. 6 s a perspective view of the, guide forthe goods and the elastic strip; Fig. 7 is an end detail view of'the guide forthe work and the elastic strip and illustrates the manner in which the garment is folded and the elastic strip fed thereto; and Fig. 8 is a per spective view of the parts as constructed in the present instance to impart tension to an endless elastic loop.

Similar characters of reference indicate 9 corresponding parts 1n the several figures of V the drawings.

Before explaining in detail the present improvement and mode of operation thereof, I desire to have itunderstood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction and arrangement of parts which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments, and that the phraseology which I employ is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

The head 1 of the sewing machine carries the needles 2 and presser foot 3. The base of A spring 1% surrounds this rock shaft 12 and has one end bent as at 15 to enter the bracket, and its other end bent to enter a collar 16 secured to the rock shaft by suitable screws p 17 By'adjusting the screws 17 and'the'oollar 16, the tension of the spring 14 may be adjusted. A crank 18 is secured to the shaft 12, as at 19, and to theend of the shaft is also secured .a crank arm 20. To this arm 20 one end of a link 22 is connected, the opposite end of this link being connected with a slide bar 23 thereby to slide the bar in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1. This slide bar is carried by the slide plate 6 and is provided with two slots 25 through whichpass screws 26, the bar being free to slide back and forth so that it may be shifted in one direction by the foot treadle 9 and automatically returned to its original position by the spring 14 rock ing the shaft 12.

This slide bar 23 has a lateral or rearward extension to which is connected, by screws 27, a U-shaped overhanging guide 30, the plate portion 28 of. which is provided with two elongated slots 29 to permit the guide to be adjusted with relation to the needles. The

l overhanging portion 31 of this guide is provided with slots '32 and 33 to facilitate the en- 'The'slot 33 is located at an angle of about 45degrees to permit the elastic strip to be turned'at right angles and in the direction of the line offeed of the goods and thus permit'sthe goods to be folded over and under the elastic strip conveniently. The inclined front edge 35 of the guide prevents the folds of the goods from catching on to that portion of the guide as the goods are :lt'ed through the machine. By having the elastic strip pass under the top overhanging wall 31 and out of the slot 32 and over the top portion of the overhanging wall at the delivery end of the guide, the elastic strip is controlled and kept from interfering with the fold of the fabric when it is being projected into the guide.

The location and position of this guide with respect to the needles is important, since, it

' tween it and the presser foot to permit the goods to fold readily without -wrinkle or by a bearing 41 on a stud 42 secured to the V bent end -13 of a. bracket This bracket is fastened to and supported by a block 45 attached to the bearing 46 of the sewing machine head. The stud 42 may be in the form of a shoulder screw, but as I have preferred to show it herein aplain stud is used riveted in the bracket 4A and provided with a collar 4-7 to hold the angle member 40 in working osition.

Attached to one of the angle parts or Mans 39 of this member 40 screws 48 is the depending projector .or projector guide 50 for projecting the goods into the guide 30. A clamp plate .51 is used to clamp the upper end 49 of the swinging projector and this enlargement of the screw holes in the upper end 49 of the projectdr so that adjustment up and down, as well as laterally or edgewise of the projector is provided for, thereby to compensate for dizffenentthicknessesofgoods and also to control its position in "relation to other parts. The lower part of the projector 50 is bent at right angles as at 5Gv topmtrance forthe folds of the goods as it feeds through to the stitching position. This feature is especially useful when working on garments that have first been seamed up, as the loose ends of the stitch as it enters the guide members automatically works itself'out from between these members free from the, guides and thus prevents the hooking on orother interference with the smooth working of thefabric through the machine.

In Fig. 7 the dotted line represents the garment or goods. the bottom layer of which is 5-2, the intermediate layer is 53, and the top layer is 54, while the elastic strip 34 is shown fed in this instance between the intermediate r over anddownthrough the slot 33 and along Y lay L Mid the top 54 Attached 'tot'he slide 23 by screws 55 is a tension release member, generally indicated at 56, for operating against the tension plate 57 carried by the plate 66. This tension plate 7 parts are mounted on plate 60 secured to slide plate 6 by an angle bracket 6.1, 4. In the operation of -the machine the tread-1e 9 or knee shift when used, is operated to rock the shaft 12 and swing the projectorout of the uide 30and to the right into dotted line position '62, Fig. 33. This member can be swung as high as desired to give clearance space for free manipulation and entrance of the work as it is introduced to the stitching position. At the same time the guide 30 is shifted to the left in the construction shown I herein.

The presser foot 3 may or may not be lifted according to the character of the work. If it is desired to lift the foot, it may also be connected to the knee shift when used or the treadle 9, so with one and the same movement the presser foot is operated simultaneously with the operation of the guide and the shifting of the elastic. 7

When doing open work it is not at all necessary to lift the presser foot, one garment being run in right after another. It is merely necessary each time a garment is started, to press the treadle 9 to shift and tack the elastic with one of the needles and to also fold and guide the goods until the end of the garment is reached. The treadle is again actuated, the guiding projector is swung out, the clastic is tacked at the finished end of the garment, the neXt article immediately succeeding it is tacked and then the goods folded under and over, etc., repeating this operation each time the portion of the garment is passed through the machine.

In order to stitch an elastic strip into the pocket or folds of the garment fabric, the action of the feed of the goods between the feed and presser foot is so arranged as to feed more of the goods than the elastic, be cause the elastic is a narrow strip, narrower in width than the width of the pocket or fold of the goods. Usually a groove 3 is provided in the bottom of the presser foot wide enough to fit the normal width of the elastic strip and deep enough to permit the elastic to slip and enable the goods to feed over the'elastic as itis retarded from feeding by the tension on the elastic strip. Thus it will be seen that when tension is applied to the elastic strip the goods can be gathered on to the elastic by the feed of the machine, which permits controlling the size of the finished garment. Some-elastic strips have more elasticity than others, sometimes as much as 300% stretch. By means of the groove in the foot, in combination with the amount'of tension applied to the elastic, more or less gathers can be provided to suit the requirements. Normally, however, if the same length of goodsand elastic strip is fed through the machine, there would be no gathers. On the other hand, when tension is applied to the elastic strip, the elastic strip in its normal condition is shorterthan the length of the garment fabric,'which gathers the goods accordingiy. It therefore will be understood that when the tension is released on the elastic strip during the tacking operation, 'a plain portion of the work will result. On the other hand, if the elastic is through at the same time.

instances, however, it 'isnot necessary to re- The tenslon release 56 can lease the elastic. be omitted and a continuous tension will in that case-be applied throughout the entire length of the elastic. In this instance, how ever, no plain portion of work will appear at each position wherethe elastic is tacked to the goods, which offers some disadvantage when the garment is seamed up as there is more bulk of goods at the junction of the joining of the garment. It is therefore optional to employ the tension release feature to gather the goods throughout the entire length, depending upon the conditions under which the machine isoperating and the character of the goods being worked upon.

When it is desired to stitch endless loops of elastics to garments that have already been closed, I provide the projector 50 with an open slot 63 and also an open slot.64. Then by passing the endless loop of elastic down through the slot 64 and up through the slot 63 and underneath the pressor foot 3, it is an easy matter to stitch the endless loops into the folds of the goods.

When operating on endless loops it is optional whether the tension is applied to the elastic by hand or mechanically, for the reason that the size of the garment is already established at the time the garment is closed,

tension during the stitching operation is notso important as with the-method of stitching the continuous length elastic to the open garments. When the open garments are being stitched, it is necessary to control the amount of gathers the garment will have, which is controlled by the amount of elastic strip length that is permitted to feed through with respect to the length of goods feeding That is to say, greater tension on the elastic will ettect a greater amount of gathers in the garment, the length of elastic fed through under heavy tension being less than that fed through under a light tension.

To tension the circular endless elastic strip, see Fig. 8, I provide a member consisting of a spring plate 65 attached to the collar 47 by a screw 66, passing through an elongated slot 67, which permits suitable adjustment. This collar being relatively stationary and secured to the stud 42, it will be understood and as the elastic strips are cut to the desired that as the member 50 swings to the right V leased. That is to say, the tension opens each time this member is shifted to the dotted line position indicated by 69.. This action, being simultaneous with the opening or shifting of the guide members, talres place at the startand finishing of each stitching operation.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that when operating upon garments that have been closed, a portion of the elastic strip is first inserted in the slots '63 and 64, and then under the presser foot with another portion under the spring 65 so that when the guide member is shifted to working position, tension will befappliedto the elastic strip.

To control and hold the projector or projector guide 50 in working position, I employ a spring 69 connected at one end to the link 37 and at the other end to the bracket 4:4:- The tension of this spring is suliicient to cause the bend in the goods and at the same time prevent the goods from being clamped in between the guide members as it feeds through; The tension of this spring is light enough also to permit seams to pass through as well as to permit the guides to open when the starting end of a seam comes along in contact with the rounded portion 50" of the proector and inclined part 35 of the guide. To w permit this slight movement, the link 37 may 5 be slot-ted at 72 to permit endwise movement of the link 37, independent of the rock shaft In the operation of the attachment shown and described, it will be understood that the rocking movement imparted to the shaft 12 of the shifting mechanism shifts the projector into the dotted'line position to the right of the needles, see Fig. 3. Simultaneously with this movement, the U-shaped guide 30 is shifted to the left, so as not only to carry the elastic strip over into the path of the left hand needle, but at the same time to shift it to a position to partly leave the fold of the goods. This shifting of the U-shaped guide when operating on circular work is of special importance, as itpermits free entrance and removal of each garment. The shifting of these members in opposite directions also leaves an open space for the manipulation of the work a-nl is accomplished by having the arms or cranks '18 and 20 one above and the other below the art-is of the shaft 12.

It will he understood, of course, that the stitching mechanism includes the necessary under thread mechanism, such as looper mechanism, and that the goods or garment elastic strip are fed to and from the st' ding mechanism by suitable feed mechanism, which is deemed not necessary to be shown herein, as they are common in the elastic strip feeding patents of John P. Neis, two of which arehereinbefore referred to.

It is to be understood that by describing in detail herein any particular form, structure or arrangement, it-is not intended to limit the invention beyond the terms ofthe several claims or the requirements ofthe prior art.

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and describeda way ofconstructing and using the same, although with out attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made, or all of the modes of its use, I

.lclairnzc 1. In an elastic strip attachment for sewingmachines, the combination of means for folding the work for the reception of an elastic strip and comprising a pair of cooperating guide members one pivoted for swinging movement only toward and from'the other, means connected with the swinging guide member and means connected with said last means for shifting it and thereby swinging the guide member and freely shiftable at the will of the operator while leaving the hands of the operator free to control the work.

2. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of means con structed to fold the work into a plaited pock t for the reception of an elastic strip and comprising a pair of cooperating guide members onepivoted for swinging movement only toward and from the other, means connected with the swingingguide member and means 1795 connected with said last means for shifting it and thereby swinging the guide member and freely shiftab'le at the willof the operator while leaving the hands of the operator free to control the work, and means carried 2 by one of said guide members for guiding the elastic strip.

3. In an elastic strip attachment for sew ing machines, the combination of means constructed to fold the work into a plaited pocket for the reception of an elastic strip an d comprising a pair of guide members one project "ing into the other and one pivoted for swinging movement only toward and from the other, .means connected with the .swinging guide member and means'connected with said last means for shifting it and thereby swinging the guide member and freely shiftable at the will of the operator while leaving the hands of the operator free to control the work, and means carried by one of said guide members for guiding the elastic strip.

4. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of means constructed to fold the work into a plaited pocket for'the reception of an elastic strip and comprising a pair of guide members one of U- shaped form and the other projecting there into and one shiftable toward and from the other, means for shifting said shiftable guide member, and-means carried by'the' U-shaped guide member for guiding the elastic strip to and from the interior of said guide member.

5. In an elastic strip attachment for-sewmg machines, the combination ofmeans for folding the work for the reception of an elastic strip and comprising a pair of laterally shiftable guide members one of U-shaped form and the other projecting thereinto, means for simultaneously shifting said guide members toward and from each other, and means carried by said U-shaped guide member for guiding the elastic strip.

6. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of means for folding the work for the reception of an elastic strip and comprising apair of laterally shiftable guide members one recessed and one projecting into said recess and one supported for swinging movement only, and means for simultaneously shifting said guide members toward and from each other.

7 In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a slide, means for shiftingthe slide, a U-shaped guide member carried thereby and movable therewith, and a swinging guide member cooperating with said guide for folding the material and connected with said slide operating means, whereby it is swung.

8. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a slide, means for shifting the slide, a U-shaped guide member carried thereby and movable therewith, a swinging guide member cooperating with said guide for folding the material and connected with said slide operating means whereby it is swung, and means for directing an elastic strip to one of said guide members.

9. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a slide, means for shifting the slide, a U-shaped guide member carried thereby and movable therewith, a swinging guide member cooperating with said guide for folding the material and connected with said slide operating means whereby it is swung, tension means for the elastic strip, and means cooperating with the slide for releasing said tension means when it is desired to shift the elastic.

10. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a slide, a U-shaped guide carried thereby and movable therewith, a swinging guide adapted to project into said U-shaped guide, and means for moving both of said guides simultaneously toward and from each other.

11. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a slide, a

-. U-shaped guide carried thereby and movable therewith, a swinging guide adapted to project into said U-shaped guide, means for moving both of said guides simultaneously toward and from each other, and comprising a rock shaft, and means for operating said rock shaft. 7

12. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a slide, a U-shaped guide carried thereby and movable therewith, a swinging guide adapted to project into said U-shaped guide, means for operating both of said guides simultaneously toward and from each other, and comprising a rock shaft,.means for operating said rock shaft, and means for directing an elastic strip to one of said guides.

13. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a slide, a U-shaped guide carried thereby and movable therewith, a swinging guide adapted to project into said U-shaped guide, said guides constructed to form a plaited pocket, means for operating both ofsaid guides simultaneously toward and from each other, and comprising a rock shaft, means for operating said rock shaft, means for directing an elastic strip to one of said guides, and means for tensioning said strip.

14. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a slide,a Ushaped guide carried thereby and movable therewith, a swinging guide adapted to pro ject into said U-shaped guide, means for operating both of said guides simultaneously toward and from each other and'comprising a rock shaft, means for operating said rock shaft, means for directing an elastic strip to one of said guides, means for tensioning said strip, and means cooperating with theguide operating means for releasing the tensioning means when it is desired to shift the, elastic. 15. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a slide, a Ushapedguide carried thereby and movable therewith, swinging guide adapted to project into said U-shaped guide, means for operating both of said guides simultaneously toward and from each other and comprising a rock shaft, means for operating said rock shaft, means for directing an elastic strip to one of said guides, means for tensioning said strip, and means cooperating with the guide operating means for releasing the tensioning means when it is desired to shift the elastic, said U-shaped guide having slots forguiding the elastic strip into the interior of the guide.

16. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a slide, a U- shaped guide carried thereby and movable therewith, a swingin guide adapted to pro ject into said U-shapec guide, said guides constructed to form a plaited pocket, means for operating both of said guides simultaneously toward and from each other and comprising a rock shaft, means for operating said rock shaft, means for directing an elastic strip to one of said guides, means for tensioningsaid strip, and means cooperating with the guide operating means for releasing the tensioning means when it desired to shift the elastic, said U-shaped guide having slots for guiding the elastic strip into the interior of the guide, and said cooperating guides having diverging meeting edges for facilitating the passage of the goods.

' guide member connected therewith toward and from the other guioe member, said last means being freely shift-able at the will of the operator while leaving the hands of the op erator free to control the work, and means for directing an elastic strip to the pocket.

18. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a pair of guides located adjacent to the needle of the machine and cooperating to form a pleat in the goods thereby to form a pocket for the reception of an elastic strip, one a sliding guide shiftable toward the outer side of the needle and the other swinging toward the innor side thereof, means for operating both of said guides simultaneously toward and from each other into overlap-ping relation, and means carried by'one of said guides for guiding an elastic strip to the pocket.

19. In an elastic stri a attachment for sewing machines, the com ination of a pair of guides located adjacent to the needle of the machine one a swinging guide and the other a sliding guide and cooperating'to form a pleat in the goods thereby to form a pocketfor' the reception of an elastic strip, the sli ding guide shiftable toward the outer side oi the needle and the swinging guide toward the inner side thereof, means for operating both of said guides simultaneously toward and from each other, and means carried by one of said guides for guiding an; elastic strip into the interior of said guide.

20. In an elastic strip attachment for sew- .i'ng machines, the combination. of a pair of guides cooperating to "form a pleat in the goods thereby to form a pocket for the reception of an elastic strip, means for operatingboth 013 said guides simultaneously towa-rdand from each other, and means carriedby one of said guides for guiding; an elastic strip, to the pocket, said guide operating meanscomprising a rock shaft-linkage pivotal-ly connected with both ofthe guides.

21. In an elastic strip attachment for sewing machines, the combination of a pair of guidescooperating toform a pleat in the goods thereby to form a pocket forthe reception of an elastic strip, means for operating both of said guides simultaneously toward and from each other-,,meanscarried by one, of said guides for guiding an elastic strip to the pocket, means for tensionin-gsaid elastic strip, said guide operating-means comprising Lewes? a rock shaftrand linkage connection with the guides, and means cooperating with I said operating means for releasing the tension when it is desired to shift the elastic.

22. In an elastic strip-attachment for seW ing machines, the combination of means for folding the work for the reception of anelasi tic strip and comprising a pair of cooperating guide members shiftable toward and from each-other, means under the control of the operator for shifting said guide members away from each other and including a pairot links pivotally connected to the guide members and automatically-operative means for shifting said guide members toward each other, and means for directing an elastic strip to the fold of the work.

23. In an elastic strip attachment for sewingmachines, the combination of means for folding the work for the reception of an elastic strip and comprisinga pair'ofcooperating guide members, one shiftable toward and f1- in the other, means under the control of the operator for shiftin-g said guid'e member in one direction and automaticavity-operative means for shifting the guide member in the opposite direction, means for directing an elastic strip to the fold ofthe work, means for tensioning said elastic strip, and means operated by the guideshifting means for releasing the tensioning means at predeter mined time.

Signed at Nyack, New York, this 31st day ofDee, 1926 ALBERT I VEIS. 

